Fire Marshal: Extension Cord Likely Cause Of Bellevue Fire
BELLEVUE (KDKA) - The Bellevue fire marshal believes an early Wednesday morning fire was caused by an extension cord.
According to officials at the scene, the started around 3 a.m. at a home on Grant Avenue. The home is split into two apartments.
All four people, including one child, were able to escape the fire unharmed.
With no smoke detectors in the apartment and fire under a child's bed, the Bellevue fire marshal says it's a miracle no one was killed.
"Extension cords were running throughout the room and under the bed, and that's actually where it started," Bellevue Fire Marshal Jeff Wissner said. "The only thing that woke him was a bang and he felt heat."
Wissner said in a situation like this, you hope that a smoke alarm will alert you, but when he started the investigation, he noticed that there were no smoke detectors in that second floor apartment where the fire started.
"I look at it this way, if he was a heavy sleeper, he wouldn't have woken up," Wissner said.
When crews first arrived on the scene, flames were shooting out of a second floor window.
The owner of the home says he just upgraded the place.
"Everybody's safe , at least that part is fine," said Randy Dougan. "I just got work done on the sewer, out front and the furnace just got here today. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I doubt it because it looks like it started upstairs."
It took crews some time to get all of the fire knocked down. They had to cut a hole in the roof to ventilate the fire.
The tenant on the first floor was also able to get out safely and said police helped to get everyone to safety.
The fire marshal said it's unfortunate that the apartments were lost in the fire, but there could have easily been a loss of life. He said there should be smoke detectors in every room and on every floor.
"This could have been a lot worse and again, that's why we need to have working smoke detectors in our homes. It's very important," Wissner said.
Wissner said he routinely gives away smoke detectors to families who need them and hopes this serves as a reminder to families who don't have them, to get one.
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